Chap 4: Revenge

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Walter decided it was kind of fun having friends. Usually he hung out with his little dog Foo-Foo or perhaps his mother, but he wasn't really use to the kind of social interaction that Dennis and Minnie were a part of every single day. Although it was a violent, cruel interaction, it was still good to have friends nonetheless.

"I can't believe that Ball Boy lost 5 teeth!" Minnie grinned, as she kicked a can towards Dennis, he caught it expertly and then crushed it with his large heavy foot.

"Yea, it was brilliant to watch"

They three children were hanging out outside of the local grocery store. Walter sat on the curb, playing with his feet, while Dennis disappeared to go grab a comic book. Minnie took a seat beside him. "So how's things between your mum and your dad?"

He gave a small smile, his spectacles balancing off his long narrow nose. "It's ok. They still fight a lot, and they sleep in separate rooms."

"When they going to get divorced?"

"They're in the middle of signing papers. Dads trying to find an flat to move into in order to get…readjusted"

"Huh.." She began nibbling on the tip of her thumb, in deep thought. If anyone seemed to the have the perfect home life it was Walter, after all, his parents had the 'perfect' son. "I'm sorry Walter. I had no idea."

"Yea. He was fucking his secretary."

She blinked in shock at what he just said. Never would she have imagined that he would put something together so bluntly. "Wow."

He shrugged. "Its ok… Hey Minnie?" She looked at him kindly, for the first time ever. "you're not just being nice to me because you feel sorry for me are you?"

"Actually, yea I am."

"Oh." He looked down and she smiled. "But you know what, you're actually pretty alright." She nudged him playfully.

"Toots said that too."

"Did she now?" Minnie grinned. "she must fancy you"

"What!" Walter became flustered all of a sudden, his spectacles heating up with embarrassment. "W-why would you say that?"

"Oh I'm just kidding Walter, lighten up."

"Oh" he readjusted his glasses, "Ok good, because I don't fancy her. I think Danny does anyway."

She blinked at the juiciness of this new information. "Really? Why would you say that?"

"W-well. I don't know. I don't want to gossip-"

"Wow, this is brilliant!"

"What's so brilliant?" Dennis hovered over them, holding a comic book and a large ice cream in his hand. He looked large as his figure blocked the afternoon sun.

"Walter here says that Danny fancies Toots" she squinted up at him.

"N-no, I didn't say that at all. I said I think maybe there's a possibility…"

"really?" A cruel thought seemed to wash across his face. "There's also a possibility that we can make his life a living hell."

"Yea! That's what I was thinking!" Minnie also had an equally vicious smirk on her face. "We can get back at him for the time he convinced the police that it was you who set the basement of the school on fire."

"It bloody wasn't. It was HIM" he growled, tensing his grip on the ice cream. It cracked slightly. "Oh no." he moaned, and handed it to Minnie.

"Yum, thanks!"

There seemed to be an ever constant battle between Dennis and Minnie and the Bash Street kids, Walter noticed. He decided to stay silent, but Minnie prodded him even further. "So why do you say that Walter?"

"Oh.. I don't know."

"COME ON" she demanded, and he tensed. "Well, I don't know, he blushes at her a lot, and-and he held her hand when she got kicked in the face."

"hm, ok. That's not enough proof. Sounds like we need to make some stuff up." Minnie reflected as her little red tongue flicked around the ice-cream.

"but… why is it a big deal? W-why do we have to-"

Dennis cut him off "BECAUSE Walter. Simply because it would embarrass Danny to no end, do you have any idea what it means to be considered a softy? especially someone like him? All the kids would lose respect for him."

Minnie grinned. "Now that's revenge."

Walter bit his lip, recalling that he had been called a softy on numerous occasions, and a feeling of resentment settled in while Minnie and Dennis discussed plans on how to sabotage the reputation of Daniel Deathshead.

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Now Danny had always been a nice kid. Tough in his ways and sometimes downright scary when he had to be, but unlike Dennis and Minnie, he was one of the few that didn't seem to fight for mere pleasure, but only when he had to.

He had never actually picked on Walter, even when everyone else was. Sometimes, he had even helped him out of sticky situations like when Wilfred and Fatty were ready to give him a beating for accidentally running into them and knocking their lunches onto the floor.

"That was my LUNCH" Fatty wailed. Wilfred's brows narrowed over his turtleneck and he took a dangerous step forward. "You're in trouble!" he growled. But Danny intervened.

"Leave him alone, it was an accident." He ordered with an expression set in stone, "he did you a favor, those lunches are disgusting anyway." and of course, they backed off, mumbling apologies. Walter supposed that's what he admired most. Danny had the power but he didn't corrupt it. Unlike Minnie and Dennis whom seemed to enjoy running havoc through the streets daily and influencing other kids to do the same.

So these troubling thoughts stirred over Walter's head when he walked home from an afternoon of helping Minnie and Dennis conjure up plans. He felt compelled to do it. He wanted friends.

He reached his house and tiptoed through the pathway. Dennis didn't walk with him this time, he went over to Minnie's house to toss around some more devious ideas. So alone he was, creaking himself through the front door. His father was asleep on the couch, the opera was on, and he was still in his business suit, snoring away.

Walter guessed his mother was asleep upstairs. It was always noticeably quiet or terribly loud at his house lately.

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Authors note: I notice that everything I write correlates with my current mood at the time. Right now I feel angst, so I'm writing angst. Tomorrow I will be a far better state of mind, and the humor will return. PROMISE.